Crime commissioner spent £22 on dinner at rough sleep out

The county’s crime boss claimed £22 in expenses for dinner at a fundraising event to help people understand the realities of rough sleeping.

Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold joined The Big Sleep Out 2018 at Sixfields Stadium in Northampton on a freezing cold night on January 26.

The Northampton Hope Centre's Big Sleep Out is the town's biggest fundraiser for homelessness.

About 165 members of the public, including the PCC, slept in the stadium to help them appreciate what it was like to be homeless as well as raising funds for The Hope Centre - a homeless charity in Northampton.

While at Sixfields, Mr Mold spent £22.64 on and evening meal at a restaurant.

He then claimed the money back from the public purse, detailing it in his January expenses claim under the subsistence category.

Mr Mold said: “I try very hard to provide good value for money to the taxpayers of Northamptonshire and I publish my expenses every month, as I am required to do.

“In January, I claimed £22.64 for a meal at a restaurant at Sixfields. This was at the end of a busy working day, before going straight on to the Big Sleep Out, where I raised £850 for the Hope Centre in Northampton.”

It is not suggested that the claim is improper or illegal.

Between November and January - the last period for which claims have been published - Mr Mold claimed a total of £552 in expenses as well as 380 business miles.

In total, the Big Sleepout raised around £50,000 in total for The Hope Centre.

Five rough sleepers died in Northampton during the first two months of 2018, with record numbers sleeping on the streets of all the county’s towns.